Formula One fans have not seen the South African Grand Prix since 1993. A lot of figureheads have pushed the FIA to make its return to the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit. Despite Lewis Hamilton being one of the leading drivers in the discourse, F1 may scrap the 2024 South African GP due to political tensions.
Adam Brown-led 777, who ventures in sports investment through soccer, recently came forward with interest in reviving the South African GP. Brown's company promotes the Kyalami 9-Hour race. It takes place in the same circuit as the F1's Grand Prix. Although, these plans seem unlikely due to South Africa's failure to denounce Russia, per Ewan Gale of Racing News 365.
The Russian roadblock makes the 2024 South African GP hard to push for. 777 has already agreed upon a venue hire in Kyalami. The circuit has also planned to rent its facilities to Brown and Co. The team only awaited a formal signature to push through with their plans. All of these are on the brink of getting scrapped.
A major sticking point for the FIA has been that South Africa, a part of the BRICS countries, has close ties with Russia. The country chose to stay neutral on its stance and has not formally announced its disdain for the Russian government's actions or its war on Ukraine.
Further tensions rose as the United States accused South Africa of supplying arms to the Kremlin and their war efforts. Since then, the motorsport governing body scrapped the Russian Grand Prix. They also banned Russian and Belarusian drivers from participating in their races.
A return to the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit seems unlikely for the foreseeable future.
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